Analyzing Film Production Choices and Script Clarity

John and Craig sit in project purgatory and ask, what do you do when the only answer you’re getting is “maybe”? They share advice on how to gently check in without annoying people, recognizing the soft pass, the unexpected benefits of patience, and what to do when you’re the person holding up the gears.

Then it’s another round of the Three Page Challenge, where John and Craig give their honest feedback on three listener-submitted scripts. We also follow up on script supervisors and the encroaching perils of AI production.

In our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig spill the telltale signs that a movie or TV show has had reshoots.

Links:

• Follow along with our Three Page Challenge Selections! SCRAMBLING by Tania Luna, LUMP by Leah Newsom, and THE DREAD PIRATE ROBERTS by J. Bryan Dick
• The King of Tars
• Sesame Street
• The Goes Wrong Show on Prime
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Check out the Inneresting Newsletter
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• Craig Mazin on Instagram
• John August on Bluesky, Threads, and Instagram
• Outro by Nick Moore (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Drew Marquardt and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

Email us at ask@johnaugust.com

You can download the episode here.